Monday, October 3, 2016

Music Video Monday: Chris Milam

Chris Milam's new music video, "Tell Me Something I Don't Know", pays homage to one of the earliest, and most famous, music videos. In May 1965, documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker had following Bob Dylan to London while filming his seminal rock documentary Dont Look Back. Dylan wrote the lyrics to his song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" on a handful of cue cards, and Pennebaker and crew popped out back of the Savoy Hotel to film a short title sequence for the documentary. The resulting promo clip was an instant classic that has been parodied, emulated, and revered over the years.

Milam enlisted Memphis experimental film auteur Ben Siler to riff on the timeless concept for his song "Tell Me Something I Didn't Know". Where Dylan had a cameo by Beat poet Alan Ginsberg, Milam and Siler got a cavalcade of Memphians to silently confess their secrets on camera, ranging from touching to funny to harrowing. Milan says the total budget for the video, shot on an iPhone, was "about $9", but the results prove that some ideas are evergreen, and you don't have to have elaborate sets or costumes to make a great music video.

If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com